Special Anniversary
by Carebearmaxi
Summary: Takes place around 1988/1989, Max and 99 have endured so much in not only being agent partners, but a married couple and as parents as well. Celebrating their 21st anniversary because their 20th year was tumultuous they reminisce and spend a good time with their friends and family. I have instituted a couple of events in my own life as 'theirs'
1. Chapter 1

The Special Anniversary

Prologue

The night was warm for mid-November. Maxwell Smart, Agent 86, stood in front of the mirror next to the front door of his house as he tied his tuxedo bowtie making sure it was perfect. He rubbed his right shoulder as it ached a bit from a bullet he managed to live through last year. At 59 years of age, he still considered himself suave and sophisticated as any secret agent in his league. As he looked in the mirror again, he said to himself: _Who are you kidding? If it weren't for your wife you would have been dead long ago_. Thinking of 99, his junior by 10 years and his junior agent by only two years, Max could not help but smile. The reason he wanted to look his most suave and sophisticated was that tonight he and 99 would be celebrating their 21st wedding anniversary.

The anniversary was to be a celebration and was planned by their two eldest children, the twins, Zachary and Maxine. Originally planned last year, it did not quite come to fruition; so Zach and Maxi planned again and this year went off without a hitch. First they would all have a celebratory dinner with friends and family at their parents' favorite restaurant and then close family and friends would return to their house for a nightcap. Their parents were not aware of the last surprise: a night with no interruptions in the honeymoon suite at The Washington Plaza Hotel. Zach, Maxi, and Avery would all stay at home and be sure to tend to little Zoe Abigail their almost 4 year old sister.

"You are simply the most handsome man I ever fell in love with," 99 said standing behind Max as she gazed at him in the mirror.

Max smiled at her reflection and assumed a debonair pose.

"Why, thank you, my darling," Max responded as his wife drew near to him. He turned around and she immediately straightened his bowtie.

"Navy blue always looks good on you, Love," 99 said kissing him as she pulled him close to her. "When you do wear clothes…"

"99! Shh….the kids," Max said pointing up the stairs and secretly loving when 99 talked dirty to him after all these years.

99 had fallen in love with Maxwell Smart since the first day she set eyes on him and had heard about his many courageous exploits as a top CONTROL agent. In all their years together her love for him had never wavered, it had only deepened. Even when she realized that Max was not as adroit as he was reputed. Her love never wavered. Together they had had their share of doubts, but she knew he loved her in the way she loved him…always.

"You are so beautiful, my darling," Max said as he pulled away from his wife and drank in her tall svelte form. Max had not always been able to say to 99 what he deeply felt. However, as his confidence in her love for him had grown he had been more courageous. They could have lost each other more than once or twice during their working together let alone in the last year. So, Max had been determined to express more openly to his wife how he much adored her.

At 49, Max's wife was still a stunning woman. She still had long dark brown hair with no gray. Tonight her thick brown hair had been swept up in tendril curls on top of her head. A jeweled barrette sat in the middle of her head holding the volume in place. She matched her husband dressed in a long dark blue sheath which brought out the blue of her eyes. The gown's thin overlay was rhinestone encrusted and draped over the low cut décolletage barely concealing 99's cleavage. Maxine had chosen the gown when she and her mother went shopping the other day for their formal dinner clothes.

They stood staring into each other's eyes and fell into kissing again and enjoying the temporary peace and quiet before all four children sauntered down the stairs to accompany them to dinner. 99 stood back in her husband's embrace and began to enumerate what they had survived in the past year.

"It is so wonderful to be celebrating with our entire family. At least this year turned out better than the last one…"

"Yes, this past year, 1989, has been bad and good all at once," said Max scowling as he thought back to the tumultuous year they had spent.

"Are you feeling ok, now, darling," asked Max.

"I am feeling better and stronger all the time, Love. No need to worry. The doctor gave me a clean bill of health last time," 99 smiled back wrapping her arms around Max's neck. She was so grateful to him because Max had been there every step of the way even when she felt she could no longer face her battle. She kissed him again and Max responded instantly deepening the kiss she gave him.

"Ahem."

"Oh, Zach…children," Max and 99 answered together embarrassed that their children had caught them at such an intimate moment.

All four children reacted differently when they caught their parents at moments like this one. Once upon a time, Zach, Maxi, and Avery would giggle just as Zoe was doing right now. Now, Avery rolled his eyes. Zach and Maxine just smiled and looked away. All the happenings in the last year had affected all the Smarts not just their parents. Knowing what the family had endured in the past year, the children were grateful to still be privy to a private moment between their parents when either one could have been lost from the events of last year.

CHAPTER ONE

"What do you mean he's been lost!" 99 exclaimed to the Chief of Control slamming her hand on his desk.

"I mean we have not made contact with him or his partner since he crossed over to East Germany," Chief said as he laid a comforting hand on 99's as it sat on his desk.

"No, I know he's not lost! I would have known had something happened to him. I would feel it here," 99 said softly as she sat down and laid a hand over her heart.

It was early January 1988, East Germany was just as Communist as ever and supported KAOS in all its domestic transactions. With the 1988 Summer Olympics coming up there were rumors of sabotaging other country's athletes. Rumblings of reuniting Germany had begun. People were sick at heart of the separation and with the happenings in Poland of Lech Walesa, CONTROL had to be prepared for anything. Max had been sent to East Germany to retrieve a kidnapped USA born gymnast whom KAOS had kidnapped to participate as a member of the East German gymnastic team.

Max did not travel alone but accompanied by a young woman who was also close to 99. Max and 99's daughter, Maxine, was now a young woman of 18. She was an accomplished dancer and a part time gymnast having studied both things privately. She had also attended spy camp since a little girl and recently became a trainee with CONTROL while attending college. Normally CONTROL would not send a father and daughter on an assignment together, but Max was not about to trust his daughter to some other agent no matter who had been assigned. Besides this was supposed to be one of/or the last mission Max was assigned before he became Chief of CONTROL at the current Chief's retirement.

99 folded her hands on the Chief's desk and put her head down praying that both her husband and her daughter would be fine and return safe. She knew Max would never let anything happen to their daughter as sure as he had never let anything happen to her when she and Max were partners. 99 knew, of course, as Maxine did that many times 99 was the one who got herself and her father out of trouble. Maxine felt confident that if it became necessary she could do the same thing. 99 knew that the Chief was relieved, too. He was grateful that the little bit that Maxine had inherited from Max did not involve thinking on her feet.

The cover, of course, was that Maxine had arranged to take the place of another gymnast on the East German team and her coach (Max) had arranged to catch up with the team in Germany to prepare. While in West Germany they would sneak their way past the wall into East Germany and make their way to the East German training facility and abscond with the American gymnast.

"The last time I had contact with Max he and Maxine were on their way to the facility. Their papers got them admittance to the other side of the wall. They were driving in a German domestic car and it was a good thing that both Maxine and Max speak fluent German because it made the admittance much easier. They were just inside East Berlin and then the phone went dead. I thought I could detect gunfire, but I could not regain contact after that."

"I know, Max, he probably was spotted. He would abandon the car and lie low until he and Maxine feel they are safe to move. They are probably moving on foot because the car would make too much noise."

"Well, I want to send another agent over there to find them but I do not want to run the risk of ruining their cover," Chief said pinching the sides of his nose with his fingers.

"Chief, I could go…" 99 piped up.

"No, 99, absolutely not! Zoe is just a toddler. I cannot allow that." Chief commanded sternly but not loudly.

"Chief, Zoe can stay with you and my mother. Zach is at tech school and Avery is very capable of getting himself up for school. My cover could be none other than the other gymnastic coach who is married to Max and oversees the training of Maxine. You know how the European Gymnastic coaches are always married to one another," 99 reasoned.

"Well, let me think it over," Chief said. He knew 99 may well have been onto something. It was really no coincidence that he had made her Max's partner all those years ago. It had been partially 99's desire and partially Chief's knowledge of Max and his sometimes less than perfect methods of solving KAOS issues.

Part II

"Agent T89 calling CONTROL, Agent T89 calling CONTROL..come in CONTROL.." Maxine Smart incessantly spoke into her concealed shoe phone. Her agent number was T for "teen" and combination 89 was Control's signal that she was the daughter of Agents 86 and 99. Similarly, her twin brother's Zach's agent number was T98. T was for "teen" and combination of 99 and 86 so to designate the son of Agents 99 and 86.

Maxine continued her litany as she sat on the ground in the middle of a field surrounded by bales of hay. She was cold and she was very worried about her father who had been shot in the shoulder. Max had told his daughter that it was the second time he had been shot in the shoulder, but that he would be ok. The first time was way back on San Jirman Island the time he chased after her mother when she was to marry another man. Maxine remembered the story many times and loved to think how romantic her father's reaction to her mother marrying another man had been. However, that time Max had said it had been just a flesh wound. She kept looking at her father's pale and sweaty face and how he was beginning to shake with fever. How could he think it wasn't serious? He was her dad, Maxwell Smart, one of the most famous agents of CONTROL and filled with such overblown self confidence that Maxine knew he was just trying to keep her from panicking.

Maxine was not alone with her father, however, they did arrive at the training facility and gained access to the locker rooms and exercise floors where each piece of apparatus had been sturdily installed. Initially their objective, gymnast Amelia Lochnario, an American gymnast of Italian descent, was rehearsing her routine on the uneven parallel bars. Amelia was slightly smaller than Maxine just under 5'2", but other than that the resemblance was remarkable. Amelia and Maxine could have been twins when looked at from a distance. Each girl had their very long curly black hair twirled into a bun with all types of colorful clips and bobby pins to keep it from interfering with their exercise routines. The only difference was that Amelia's face was pale and her eyes a bit red from crying and lack of sleep from her captivity.

When Maxi and Max had entered the training area and upon seeing her almost doppelganger, Maxine held up her hand and waved as a friendly gesture so no suspicion would be aroused. Amelia waved back and gave Maxine a wan smile.

"Amelia Lochnario?" Maxine asked.

"Yes, who are you?" Amelia asked in return shocked at the resemblance.

"I'm Agent T89, Maxine Smart, of CONTROL. I am here with my dad, Agent 86, Maxwell Smart Senior Agent 86 also of CONTROL. We're here to take you home," Maxine said surreptitiously holding out her ID badge for Amelia to examine. Maxine had to wear a gymnast badge to even be admitted in the place, but when Maxine had gotten back to the hotel she slipped her CONTROL ID badge in back of the clear laminated pouch attached to her neck. She knew she would have to show her CONTROL identification to Amelia to be believed.

"How are you going to do that? KAOS people are disguised as trainers and are carrying small weapons in case they see you," Amelia whispered panicking.

"Don't worry. My dad is also dressed as a coach and he and I are both armed and trained in other areas as well."

"Now, this is the plan. It is fortunate we look so much alike. This should be easy," said Maxine confidently.

"What do I do?" Amelia asked wonderingly if this was truly going to work.

"Do you see that dark haired man standing beside the balance beam watching the other East German gymnasts?"

"Yes." Amelia said as she spotted him across the room.

"That's my father. He is expecting you. Once you talk with him he will lead you through the doors like you were going to the locker room. Once I see you go I will finish your routine and then walk out the doors and join you," Maxine explained as she powdered her hands preparing for her routine - Amelia's routine in reality.

"I'm scared, Maxine."

"Don't be. This has been well planned and well thought. Executing should be fine. Now go before too many people see us speaking together." Maxine said as she stepped in front of the lower uneven parallel bar.

"Thank you," Amelia said as she turned from Maxine and walked towards Max.

Max was taking in the sights of all the women and men twirling and whirling in the air, on the mats, and all around. It was almost like a circus. He briefly focused on Maxine has she performed Amelia's routine step by step. A proud fatherly smile crossed his face as he watched her. He was so engrossed by his offspring that he almost did not see her lookalike step forward.

"Agent Smart?" Amelia said tapping him on the elbow. As Max turned around he was astonished at the resemblance between his daughter and this young woman. They could have been twins.

"You must be Ms. Lochnario," Max said softly and started rubbing her shoulders as if she just came from an exercise.

"Yes, I am. Maxine said you and she were going to get me home".

"Absolutely. So just stay by my side and we will quietly go through to the locker room…" Max continued quietly and then in typical Max style went to step through the double doors which swung back swiftly and smacked him in the nose. He briefly looked around to see if anyone noticed and then proudly holding up his head began talking to Amelia as they strode nonchalantly as if he were her coach guiding his prize gymnast to a rubdown.

Part III

Maxine finished Amelia's routine once and then decided she should do it again in case anyone thought Amelia was not practicing. Luckily no one else wanted to practice their routines on the uneven parallel bars. As Maxine came around for a last pass on the lower bar, she happened to glance at Amelia's East German coach. Maxine quickly thought as she grabbed the lower bar as her feet swept the mat underneath her _what now?_ Maxine, at once, fell off the bar and twirled around as if she were going to do the routine again. Out of the corner of her eye she could see that the East German coach had been satisfied that Amelia had not stopped practicing. As soon as Maxine dared, she briefly swept a look behind and saw the East German coach was nowhere in sight. _Time to make my move she thought_.

"Vhere are you goink? Mz Lochnario?" Unfortunately, the East German coach or KAOS coach had briefly watched Maxine without her knowledge and sneaked up behind her as she started for the double doors to the hallway.

Well, Maxine looked enough like Amelia from a distance, however, close up there were some differences which the large KAOS East German coach immediately saw upon one look at Maxine's face.

At once, Maxine surreptitiously pulled out her gun and put it in stomach, and quietly said, "I am going for some water, if you don't mind. I think I must have my bar routine a half dozen times. I think I'm finished with that apparatus. Say goodbye because I won't be back."

The KAOS man smiled and put up his hands and allowed Maxine to walk out of the double doors without a word or motion. Maxine knew she did not have much time and hoped that her father and Amelia were already out the back door. Maxine was disappointed to see that her father and Amelia were in the locker room and not through the back door.

"Come on, guys, we're going to have company. Your "coach" noticed I wasn't you and wanted to escort me to the next piece of apparatus." As she went to join them before the back door of the locker room which led to the parking lot, Max said, "Oh, how nice."

"Dad, I was being sarcastic! We need to leave now!"

"Right, Maxi. Amelia, Maxi…let's blow this joint."

With that Max, Amelia, and Maxine stepped carefully out the exterior locker door facing the parking lot and who knows what other surveillance had been trumped up.

PART IV

That brought them to where they were now. There had been a lot of company, and it quickly surrounded them. Apparently the surveillance cameras that had been installed as a precaution were too good and had picked up everything from the time Max and Amelia had left the double door gym. As soon as all three stepped into the parking lot guns started firing. Amelia kept hidden behind cars and trucks outside as Maxine and Max picked off KAOS agents with their .38's.

All of a sudden Max went down and Maxi summarily shot and killed the person who shot her father. There was one more out there, Maxi could feel it.

"Amelia! Help me! Dad's been shot!" Maxi screamed as she tried to drag her dad away from the continuing gunfire.

"I'm ok. It just brushed me," Max tried to say as he managed to take cover with his daughter and the gymnast.

"Let me see, dad," Maxi said as she tried to take her father's bloodied fingers away from the top of his arm.

"It's nothing."

"It is NOT nothing. Let me see," Maxi commanded.

"This is not a brush wound, Dad. I bet the bullet is still in there!"

"No time for discussion . Let's get out of here!" Amelia stated as she found an empty vehicle and hotwired it to start.

Max was fascinated. He could not even have hotwired a car that fast!

"How did you do that?"

"I wasn't always a gymnast, you know. I worked in my dad's auto shop for years when I was little," Amelia said proudly.

"Well, that's fantastic."

"Stop the chitchatting and let's go," admonished Maxine. She knew how sometimes her father became distracted at the little things.

"Right, Maxi," Max said and with difficulty got into the car.

CHAPTER TWO

For at least four hours they had traveled from the road to this abandoned barn. Maxine and Amelia half carried her father as his loss of blood was making him exceedingly weak. The barn looked like it had been used recently. Fresh animal dung clung to the hay packed into the stalls. Maxine found the cleanest stall and helped Max into a reclining position and changed the homemade dressing she had placed on his shoulder as Amelia had taken the wheel and driven like a women possessed through open roads. Maxi reversed the current makeshift bandage to the clean side.

"Honey, let me try…uh..," Max said as he attempted to take her shoephone from Maxine's hands. He heard before this trip that soon a real phone would be portable, but Max would always be attached to his shoephone.

"Dad you are not in a good condition. The bullet may not have exited. Any movement and it could move further into your body. You have lost a lot of blood. Let me do this," Maxine insisted as she knelt over her father. He was sweating profusely and the hay around him was quickly turning a dark crimson. He was shivering, so Maxine had removed her heavy coat and found a horse blanket as well to wrap around him and keep him warm.

"That's good. Thanks, honey. You're a good agent Maxi," Max managed as he put a shaking hand to her tearstained cheek. "Don't cry, honey. I'm been through worse than this. You can ask your mom. It will take more than a gunshot to see me off. Daddy's not going anywhere."

"You better not. Mom will kill me if you die. Hang in there daddy. We'll get some help," Maxi said attempting to not show her father her tears. She wanted to be like him. Tough when the tough got going. She went immediately back to her litany and finally a voice answered back.

Amelia sat silently by watching Max and placing a hand on his forehead every so often. She managed to find an old water pump and a relatively clean bucket and was able to get a little water so Max would not dehydrate nor she and Maxine.

"Chief? It's Maxine Smart," Maxine stated clearly.

"Maxi! It's Zach. Mom and the Chief are traveling to Germany as we speak to find you"

"How long have we been out of contact?" Maxi asked.

"Three days. Mom was going to go herself, but the Chief wouldn't let her because of Zoe and us."

"Three days?!" It certainly did not seem like it to Maxi whose only thoughts were of her father's survival and to get Amelia back to the United States. Had the sun set and rose three times? She could not be sure, but if her brother said three days, she supposed he was right. Maxi had been so preoccupied that she could not remember the last time they had checked in with headquarters.

"Listen, Zach. Dad's been shot in the shoulder. He's pretending he's ok, but I know he is not. He has lost a lot of blood. I can't move him because the bullet may move. I do not know where exactly I am, but maybe you can pick up my signal if I go outside. There has to be some way you can pick us up!"

"Maxi, calm down. Stay on the line. I can track your shoe. The tracking device on your shoe and Dad's shoe works by satellite, so we can usually track you anywhere in the world.

"Where are mom and the Chief going? Hopefully to CONTROL's German headquarters. We had a firefight with the KAOS agents staked out at the gym and that is why Dad's been hurt. They had better not attempt to go to the East Berlin practice center. They may be walking into a trap," Maxine stated worriedly.

"I think they were going to land in Paris and drive to West Germany and then see if they could get in from there. They were not going directly."

"Good."

"Is that Zach?" Max asked weakly reaching for Maxi's shoe.

"Yes, dad. He's covering for the Chief and…Mom," Maxi said carefully. She knew he would be furious when he found out that mom was on her way. One of Max's greatest fears since they became parents was that both he and 99 would be killed during a mission and their children would grow up without parents. Max started ease back a bit on that rule when three of their children were half grown, but since Zoe's birth Max's fear rose again. That was why they never took the same assignment unless they absolutely had no choice.

"Your mother…let me talk to him!" Max demanded finding enough strength to snatch Maxi's shoe phone.

"Zach, it's your father. Why is your mother coming? She knows how I do not want her to be away from you at the same time I am..oh," Max winced and laid back down on the cold ground and started to shiver again. Maxi took the phone and dared not show her fear that her dad might soon die.

"Mr. Smart, please calm down. You don't want that bullet to move" Amelia said.

"Hang tight, Maxi. I got your signal and I am going to try to transmit it to mom's compact phone" Zach said comfortingly.

"Thanks, Zach." Maxine waited while Zach began the transmission.

Part II

While Zach was working on transmitting Maxi's signal to 99's compact, Maxi and Max had a welcome visitor in the barn.

Speaking in complete German at first, the owner of the farm swooped in and it happened that Max had saved this man's life twenty years before when he was a misplaced CIA agent trapped on the wrong side of the wall.

"Max? Maxwell Smart?"

Max took a moment to open his eyes as the only way he was coping with the pain was by closing his eyes and concentrating on the thought of seeing his wife again as he listened to his daughter ramble. Maxi had a tendency to ramble about nothing when she was scared.

"Karvelas? Charlie Karvelas"?

"Yes… it's me. What are you doing here?"

"He's having a pony ride, man, what do you think he's doing?" Maxi asked sarcastically as she continued to panic watching her father's color come and go. She held her gun on him just in case he was not as friendly as he seemed.

" Whoa, I am a friend. You can put the gun down, missy. Are you a CONTROL agent as well?" Karvelas asked.

"Charlie…"Max panted. "Meet Agent T89 Maxine Smart, my daughter. Maxi, be nice, meet Charlie Karvelas a one-time trapped CIA Agent."

"Your dad save my life, right here, in this country a million years ago," Charlie said as he eyed Maxine. He noted that her East German Gymnastics jacket was covering Max. Charlie also noted the orange and brown warm-up suit. As carefully uncovered Max to check his wound he noticed that Max was dressed in a similar attitude.

"Obviously you were on a mission…posing as East German gymnasts, I'd say," Karvelas asked looking at all three of them. "Unless you were trading sides?" Charlie examined all three people in his barn. Max he would have known anywhere. He had not changed in twenty years. He looked at Maxine. She looked like Max enough to know that he and she were related. However, her brown eyes were large and deep. Maxi's dark brown hair was endless ringlets Charlie could tell because Maxi's hair had come down from the tight bun and clips she had put in for her disguise. She had Max's nose that was for sure, but with the combination of her other physical traits she was a very pretty young woman.

The other young woman who looked almost like Maxi was a mystery to him.

"Ok, I think I know who you are," Charlie said as he pointed a finger at Amelia.

"Amelia Lochnario. I am an American Champion gymnast who was kidnapped by KAOS. Apparently, Agents Smart are here to kidnap me back home. I am really happy to be here, Mr. Karvelas," Amelia shook his hand politely.

"Look Agent Karvelas…" Maxi began.

"Oh, I am no longer an agent. Just call me "Charlie".

"Maxi. Thank you for helping my dad. Can you get him to a hospital?" Maxi asked hopefully holding Max's hand.

"Sure. I can try, but he may be safer in the house. My wife is there. She is German and knows about my past. You'll be safe here. No one knows about me or this place. By the way, Olga doesn't speak English. You all do speak German, don't you?"

"German, French, Spanish, Swahili, Farsi, and, of course, English," Max strained to boast about his daughter. "That's my girl."

Amelia shook her head and said that she did not know one word of German. Charlie said that was ok he would translate for her.

"Daddy!" Maxi exclaimed gently slapping Max's cheek with the palm of her hand as Max stopped talking suddenly and closed his eyes.

"He's passed out, Maxi. Probably from the loss of blood. I drove my truck here. It's not far. Let's get him there."

Charlie Karvelas was a tall man with broad built shoulders. Maxi watched as his long legs bent down and his large arms picked up her father like a rag doll. Max hung limply in his arms. Maxi sniffed back tears and rose to follow Charlie out of the barn door. Amelia followed.

Chapter THREE

While Maxi and Max had been waiting for help in the barn, Zach had transmitted their location to their mother's compact. 99 was riding in a car with the Chief driving on the way to West German Control headquarters. 99 had hidden her tears all the way from the USA. The last thing she wanted was to show the Chief her emotional wife and mother side. She was a CONTROL agent first and foremost and although she had never developed an extremely hard shell and learned to turn it on and off as Max had there was still blood on 99's hands for those that she had killed in the name of niceness and goodness. Suddenly she heard the beeping of her compact. With shaking hands she found the compact and opened it up. In actuality, the compact was a mini computer decades ahead of its time.

"Zach! What's going on?" 99 asked as he saw her son's face fill the compact's mirror space.

"Mom. I found them. They are in East Germany in a barn. However their signal is moving due west. I think they may have found help," Zach said pausing before he told his mother the rest of the story.

" Dad's been shot in the shoulder and, if Maxi's correct, he's not doing too well. Don't panic, Mom."

Swallowing her tears, she said "Zach, I am Control agent, first. I do not panic. Now tell me about your dad and sister's location."

"Well, they are at 45 degrees latitude and 72 degrees longtitude somewhere in the middle of the country"

"Did you hear that Chief?" 99 asked. Just then the Chief and 99 were thrown forward as a car smacked into their car's rear.

Before The Chief and 99 could realize their car had been hit from the rear, there was a German officer at their window.

"Oh, vell if it isn't de Chief of Control and 99," said Siegfried, one of KAOS' top agents even after 20 years. Siegfried and Max had a relationship prickly at best. They were to have shot each other on sight, but after the fight grew cold each became a little more friendly knowing that if they killed each other the fun of hunting would be over.

"Siegfried!" 99 exclaimed as she rubbed her head. She looked at her hand to check for blood but luckily nothing was found on her hand.

"Siegfried!" The Chief exclaimed simultaneously. He also examined himself for bleeding, but he also found none.

"Yes, it's me. I am vondering is Schmart in trouble?"

99 did not know what to say at first, but then she realized a long time ago that Siegfried was a lot softer than he pretended. However, Siegfried answered his own question by saying:

"No neet to say further. I know he is in trouble. I may actually be able to help you."

"Help us?" 99 questioned.

"Yes. Help you. Although we are sworn enemies, I have a soft spot for your husband."

"No trap?" Chief questioned eyeing Siegfried and his manner trying to decipher if they were, in fact, being deceived.

"No. You can believe me." Siegfried said clicking his heels together and saluting.

99 looked at the Chief. The Chief looked at 99. They had no choice because both wanted badly to save Max, Maxi, and the mission. It was not lost on them that Amelia's parents were both distraught waiting back in the USA for any word of her condition or whereabouts.

"All right," 99 and the Chief said simultaneously.

"Goot. Please follow where I go," said Siegfried. "However, before you do that, let me tell you what I know."

With that Siegfried opened the back door of the car and got into the backseat.

"There was an alarm that went out from KAOS headquarters about the East German gym. They claimed that the kidnapped American gymnast was kidnapped by one dark haired man dressed as a coach and another similar looking young woman who resembled Amelia Lochnario incredibly. I assume that this was Schmart and your daughter Maxi. Am I correct?"

"Yes," 99 agreed. Here was someone who knew how much a husband and child meant to her. Siegfried had a wife, somewhere, and she knew he had a daughter in the US because Zach had apparently fallen in love with her - the fair and beautiful Gretchen Siegfried.

"Now, I am getting into my car. Shtarker will drive to the location of your 86 and your daughter. After we get you parked, we must return directly to KAOS headquarters. Not a word to them that I have helped you. Is dis clear?"

"Very clear, Siegfried," the Chief said. "Thank you."

"Very vell. Here ve go."

Siegfried was as good as his word. They found themselves miles out of town through the East German border where there false credentials were cleared immediately upon seeing who accompanied them. They finally parked in the front of a white austere building which looked like it had been constructed in the late 1800's. A woman in white walked out of the building and held the door open for them to enter. They walked to a desk where another woman in white sat behind examining a clipboard. She was around the Chief's age and looked like she had been working for a long time.

Speaking fluent German, 99 had asked if this building was a hospital. The woman responded yes and asked her if she could help her.

"I'm looking for my husband. Maxwell Smart," 99 said.

The woman looked at her clipboard and said distinctly, "Ve haf no Maxvell Schmart, here?"

99 looked at the Chief who said to 99 in English, "Could he be using an alias?" At that moment, she and the Chief turned when they heard a crying sound behind them.

"Mom! Chief!"

"Maxine!" 99 exclaimed as she ran to her daughter. They clung to each other until the Chief came and embraced her as well.

"Mom, dad is here, but he is going by the name Charlie Karvelas." Maxi said as she stood back to look at her mother and her surrogate grandfather.

"Charlie? The CIA agent he saved about 20 years ago in this very country?"

"Yes. It is a long story and I can tell you by the time we get to dad's room I will be done. I am so glad to see you Mom and Chief. I know dad will be, too." Maxi gave her mom's arm another squeeze and The Chief a kiss on his cheek.

When they got into the elevator, Maxi preempted her mother who had wanted to ask the obvious question of how her father was.

"Mom, dad is in intensive care. He has lost a lot of blood and the bullet moved when they tried to take it out of his shoulder. The surgeons are waiting until he is a little stronger before they go back in. He's on a ventilator to prevent his body from being overtaxed. He is in a medically induced coma so he can build up his strength."

Maxi saw the color in her mother's face come and go. Then 99 went totally white and was helped to a chair before she could collapse. In all the years the Chief had known she and Max this was first time that 99 had shown how vulnerable and how close she and Max really were. It was a testament to their partnership and their marriage that this closeness had endured over 20 years.

"Can I see him?" 99 asked hopefully. "I think he'll know I'm here even though he can't talk to me. Maxi what happened out there?"

"Why don't you go see dad first," Maxi said giving a sniffle. 99 stroked her daughter's cheek and for the first time noticed how her eyes were red rimmed and brimmed with tears. Before she went to see Max, Maxi's lookalike, Amelia Lochnario approached her and the Chief and spoke to them.

"Mrs. Smart. I am Amelia Lochnario. Your husband is a brave man. He took the bullet for me. I just wanted to express my gratitude at what you have done for me." 99 had risen and given Amelia a hug knowing that her parents would be glad that she was safe and on her way home.

The Chief interrupted this tender moment so 99 could have a moment alone with her daughter.

"Ms. Lochnario, I am The Chief of Control. I will be able to arrange for your trip back home in time to compete in the Olympics for your country."

"Absolutely. Thank you for what you have done."

The Chief gave 99 and Maxi a hug and then he and Amelia found the elevator down and walked away so that the Smarts could have a little time alone.

PART II

99 looked at her husband lying with the tube coming out of his mouth. Her tears could wait no longer. She wiped her eyes and took the chair that Maxi had formally occupied. Maxi had left 99 alone so she could get some coffee for the both of them and may be something to eat. She approached the bed where Max lie. His eyes were closed and his face looked like it was at peace except for the tube and the sound of the ventilator as he breathed in and out.

"Oh, Max, you were so brave to take that bullet for Amelia. I am so proud of you. I love you so much," 99 cried as she took Max's hand in hers and held it to her cheek.

Suddenly Max stirred at the sound of his wife's voice and touch of her hand. He turned his head as best he could and saw 99 and immediately tears welled up in his deepset brown eyes. He smiled as best he could with the tube shoved down his throat. He tried to move, but 99 held him as best she could with her arm around him tight.

"Don't move, Max, love. The bullet is still in your shoulder somewhere. The surgeons are waiting until you are strong enough to go back in and find it."

A tear fell from Max's eye and he winced from the pain. 99 rubbed his chest carefully and then carefully laid her head on it. Max eyes curled into a smile as he laid his hand on 99's chestnut hair. His eyes then closed and he seemed to be even more peaceful than when 99 had first seen him. It was almost like he said without words how happy he was that she had made it to Germany to see him.

99 closed her eyes and breathed with Max. She dare not move. She was afraid that if she moved he would stop breathing. 99 lay there for a couple of hours until the Chief came and patted her on the shoulder.

"99," the Chief said. 99 raised her head from Max's chest, looked to make sure he was still breathing and then turned to the Chief.

"Yes," 99 said wiping her eyes.

"I have made some hotel reservations down the street. Maxi is there right now getting settled. Amelia is right now on her way back to the USA. You should be proud of both your husband and daughter. They did very well. It was a great way for Max to retire from active spying. I am very proud that he will be the new Chief of Control"

"Thank you, Chief. Max is very proud to be the next Chief. He admired you so much. He loves you like a father. I love you like a father, too." 99 wept and went into the Chief's waiting embrace.

"I love you, two kids, too," Chief said letting his professional guard down and gently kissed 99's forehead. "Why don't you go on back to the hotel with me.

"No, I want to stay with Max as long as they allow me. Is Maxi ok?"

"Is Maxi Ok?" The Chief not knowing how to express how great an agent Maxi was at barely 20 years old started to boast, "She's terrific. Not only was she able to play Amelia Lochnario. She even fended off a bully of a KAOS agent. She shot three KAOS agents from a long distance including the one that put Max in that bed. That girl's got the best of both you and Max it seems. Plus she debriefed me about how Max got shot and how they got help. You probably won't like what I'm about to tell you, 99"

"Just tell me, Chief. I need to know." 99 pleaded taking the seat next to Max's bed once again and briefly glancing to be sure that Max was resting comfortably.

The Chief took the chair next to 99 and looked into her brimming blue eyes.

"Maxi said that as they were coming out of the East German Sports Complex that there was a gunfight. Amelia tried to help by staying low, but as she rose to follow one of the KAOS agents took a potshot at Amelia and instead hit Max as he tried to cover her. Max kept pretending it was a graze, but Maxi instinctively knew by all the blood and the pain Max was in that the bullet never left his body. They managed to find their way to a barn until someone discovered them. That someone was-Charlie Karvelas." The Chief paused before saying Max's savior's name because he knew that 99 held nothing but contempt for Charlie Karvelas.

"What the hell was he doing here? I thought he retired from the CIA after Max saved his life. Oh, that is what arrogant son of bitch I never wanted to see again especially after he threw Max under the bus."

"99, if it wasn't for him and his wife Max may not be alive right now!"

"Well, maybe Max was shot in the first place because of him. I never knew Charlie Karvelas to be sweet and beguiling without ulterior motives." 99 was distraught. The ploy that Max used to save Charlie Karvelas 20 years before was the same one Charlie used to entrap Max behind enemy lines only five years ago when they were fighting the new Mr. Big in KAOS. Luckily 99 was partnered with Max then because despite he sometimes seeing through the obvious Max definitely was not firing on all cylinders that time. It was 99 who saved them - as it was most of the times when she worked with her husband.

"Charlie wants to see you," The Chief said. "Maxi seemed real taken with him. You know she doesn't trust easily."

"True. All right but only after Max's next surgery and I know he'll recover."

"You drive a hard bargain, 99. However, I am sure Charlie and Olga will understand."

The Chief left then and headed back to the hotel leaving 99 alone with Max as he slept with the ventilator breathing for him.

Part III

Three days later Max was in surgery. The medically induced half coma had done the trick and built up his body enough that whatever blood he lost during surgery could easily be replaced. Maxi had volunteered to donate her blood as she and Max had the same type, but the surgeons deemed that unnecessary. They had plenty of A+ blood in the blood bank.

Maxi and 99 waited just outside the operating room in the specified waiting room. Maxi had been staying at the hotel with The Chief and the staff had found an open room for a 99 with an empty bed adjacent to the ICU where Max was. During the time that 99 had stayed with Max, she spent every waking moment sitting next to him and only went away from holding his hand or brushing his hair away from his forehead when vitals were checked or to go the hospital snack bar and grab a sandwich and talk to Maxi and The Chief. 99 constantly spoke to Max telling him how proud she was of him, how much everyone loved him especially her and even a couple of times reminisced about some of their more difficult missions. Sometimes she could swear that Max responded. One time he squeezed her hand and the other he moaned making brief eye contact with her.

On the last night before the surgery Max's alarms had sounded in Max's room signaling that he had stopped breathing and his blood pressure had dropped very low. The duty nurse came and woke 99 feeling that if Maxwell Smart was breathing his last that his wife ought to be there. As it turned out they were able to get his tube reinserted and his blood pressure back up to normal. To 99, it sounded like Max had come out of the coma and tried to disconnect himself in search of his wife.

"Mom?"

"Yes, Maxi, what is it?" 99 responded constantly wiping away tears and tearing at her handkerchief. The surgery could take 3-4 hours depending upon if the bullet moved or the surgeon could not manipulate it.

"I know you and dad love each other very much and you worked a long time together before you got married." Maxi said squinting her eyes up and looking a lot like Max when he was trying to think hard on a subject.

"Yes, we did. We worked together for five years before he told me he loved me and we got married. Why do you ask?" 99 who had been pacing back and forth came and sat down in front of her daughter and took her hand.

"Before you go on, sweetie, I just want to apologize. I have been so preoccupied with your father that I haven't spent much time talking to you about your first official assignment with your father."

"That's ok. I understand. I'm worried, too. Dad lost so much blood while we were on the run."

"Maxi, you met Charlie Karvelas, didn't you? Chief said you were really taken with him. Did your dad or he tell you what happened about 20 years ago?" 99 wanted to know if she knew the real story behind the relationship between Charlie and Max.

"I heard a little bit about it. All I know is that dad said that he saved Charlie's life when he was a CIA agent and stranded in East Germany."

"That's only part of it. Your father is not aware that Charlie almost blew your father's cover and got him killed in the process."

"He did?" Maxi rose now from her seat and began to pace back and forth in front of 99's seat.

"Then how did dad get out of it without knowing that Charlie was the real option of the mission?" Maxi paused in her pacing and then stopped in front of 99 and pointed at her.

"You figured it out, didn't you, Mom? You were always the brains behind the operation, I know. Dad never wastes a minute to brag about what a great agent you are."

"Yes, I figured out that Charlie was the set up that your dad fell for. Charlie was a double agent but he was also a good actor. Charlie is actually a defector in the opposite direction. How many men do you know who defect to East Germany? Yes, Charlie was a good actor. He had everybody duped except me. I noted inconsistencies in his stories to your father, but he only wanted to believe the good in Charlie. Well, to keep my mouth shut and not blow his cover, Charlie tried to come on to me when your father's back was turned. He wanted me to kill my own husband! He was not the first man to want me to do that and Charlie should have known how devoted I was to my husband and my country to betray them both. Luckily I outsmarted Charlie and he couldn't kill your dad or me without exposing that he was a double agent."

Maxi thought about that and sat down next to her mother and took her hand.

"Charlie is a good actor. He seemed so genuine. I wonder if his wife knows who he really is. Olga seemed like such a regular person."

"Oh, Olga was an agent also. She was the reason he defected."

99 squeezed Maxi's hand at Maxi's haunted look.

"How could you have known anything?"

Suddenly 99's tears spilled onto her cheeks and Maxi squeezed her hand harder.

"Don't worry. Daddy is strong and resilient. He told me it would take more than a little bullet to see him off."

99 smiled and kissed her daughter's forehead.

"You liked working with your father, didn't you?"

"Yes, very much. However, I know now why you and he clicked. I refuse to believe people or other agents when they say that dad was stupid or clumsy. He was no more clumsy than I am and I know that sometimes I get accused of being just like him"

"Well, your dad isn't stupid. He isn't always agile on his feet, but he is not stupid. I would never tell him so because it would destroy his confidence. He knows what kind of man he is. He's a good man who tries his best. He loved being an agent and I know he will make a great Chief. " 99 said her big blue eyes filling with tears. _If he lives long enough to take the post 99 thought to herself._

"I waited almost all my life for something like this to happen. It scared me even when I was just his partner. However, I know that if I tried to protect him in a blatant way it would kill him….I love him so much. I just hope he comes through the surgery, so he can continue to do what he loves," 99 cried into her already shredded tissue.

Suddenly one of the surgeons came busting out of the double doors which separated the waiting room from the operating room.

"Mrs. Smart, Ms. Smart," the doctor said as he came to where 99 and Maxine stood. Upon seeing and hearing the doctor burst in they both immediately rose to their feet.

"What is it?" 99 asked trying not to panic. "Is Max all right?"

"Well, he may be, but he lost even more blood than the first time. The good news is that the bullet is out of his shoulder but he is going to have to rest before I allow him to go home."

"Is he out of surgery yet?" Maxi asked clasping her hands tightly together to prevent them from shaking.

"Yes, they are closing him up, but he is running a temperature. It seems the bullet may have caused Mr. Smart to catch an infection. Besides giving him transfusions we are giving him antibiotics."

"An infection!" 99 had to do everything not to crush Maxi's hand as she took it in fear of the doctor's words as she thought of Max lying alone in the hospital bed with a raging fever and no one to take care of him.

"Are we allowed to see him?" Maxi asked in a small voice hardly believing what she was hearing.

"Yes, but only for a few minutes. He'll know you're there and I don't want him to get overly tired. He needs all his strength for fighting the infection."

With those few words, 99 and then Maxi went into see Max.

Part IV

Three weeks later Max with the Chief, Maxine, and 99 all boarded a plane to the USA.

"It is so good to see you up and around, Max," Chief said. He gave his surrogate son a huge bear hug.

"Thank you, Chief. I can't tell you how glad I am to be going home."

"Well, you were very successful in your mission and you brought a most important new agent into the fold. Maxi is a credit to you and 99. She is going to be a spectacular agent."

99 sat next to Max on one side and Maxi on the other. Every once in a while Max leaned over and kissed his wife long and deeply. At other times he stroked Maxi's dark head and kissed her hand and mouthed "Thank you". He knew that without her quick knowledge of First Aid and her perseverance not to fall apart in a crisis he may not have ever made it.

The day before Max was released from the hospital, 99 paid a visit to Charlie and Olga Karvelas. She told him how glad she was that Charlie and his wife had helped her daughter and husband. When Charlie had gotten 99 alone he decided to test the waters with her libido one more time. With no danger from exposing himself as a double agent, Charlie thought maybe 99 had become sick of her clumsy husband and sought something more masculine. 99 slapped his face and in no uncertain terms stormed out of the Karvelas' home leaving Olga Karvelas wondering what had happened while she had been out of the room. Before she left Charlie, she promised that if anything of the recent event came to Max's ears or even if he implicated her in the affair of twenty years before, she would personally see to it that Olga's ties to the Communist party in the United States came to the forefront so badly that he would never be able to set foot in the United States again.

"Be sure, Charlie, there will come a time when you will be able to come home. So don't test me again. By the way, thank you for saving my husband and from me killing you where you stand," 99 then turned, closed their house door with finality. She breathed deeply and looked forward to going home with her husband and daughter.


	2. Chapter 4 - Chapter 7

**Author's Note: I just wanted to explain that 99's experiences were mine when I was suffering from Uterine Cancer a few years back. The occurrences that happen to her with the hospital, the doctors, and even with her two sons mirrors my experiences. To write about it helped me overcome my problems with the issue of it. Also I gave 99's mother a name. I gave her my mother's name. I thought it would fit. The only difference was I didn't have a husband to support me through the illness and recovery. I hope you like this but I understand if you do not.**

Chapter Four

The East German mission took up the first few months of 1988 and then came Max's becoming Chief of Control. 99 was still considered an active spy but Max, as the Chief before him, would not allow 99 on any precarious or horribly dangerous missions. It was a great temporary loss for CONTROL because many a time he knew his wife would have been very successful in the missions. He just could not risk their youngest daughter growing up without her mother. So Maxi became Max's primary agent on whom he could depend. At times she was accompanied by her brother at other times a much older agent would be assigned.

 _Back to the present…_..

Standing there looking at their four children, Max and 99's breaths were collectively taken away. Max looked at 99 and said to her while he put his arm around her.

"Well, 99, they don't clean up too badly, do they? Are you sure they are all ours?"

99 laughed and put both her arms around Max's waist and briefly laughed and put her head on his shoulder.

"Absolutely, love, they are all ours."

Max kissed his wife on the cheek and stood looking at his children with pride. Zach, tall like his mother, with his straight brown hair and big blue eyes; his twin, Maxine, shorter with dark brown curly hair and big brown eyes; Avery, light brown hair and light brown eyes. He stood taller than everyone at 5'11". Lastly, was the apple of Max's eye, his little Zoe Abigail. She looked like a smaller version of Maxine except when she wanted something. She would squint her little deep brown eyes and purse her lips and look just like Max. Zoe was the unexpected blessing and everyone loved her since the day she was born.

"Well, kids, don't just stand there. I don't want to be late for dinner, " said Max as he held the door open for each child to proceed out the door and to the car. Zach, Maxi, and Avery had all hurried out the front door, but little Zoe had stopped.

"Daddy?" Zoe asked looking up at Max.

"Will you hold my hand?"

99 smiled at Zoe and then she smiled at Max because she knew he could refuse her nothing.

"Of course, my little darling, here you go," Max said as he took Zoe's upturned hand.

Zoe then looked up at 99 and said, "Come on, Mommy, you don't want to be late to eat, right?"

"Right, little cupcake," 99 said as she kissed Zoe on the cheek.

When they arrived at the restaurant, _The Golden Eyes Supper Club,_ they were met at the door by a very thin, blonde hair girl with scintillating deepset blue eyes.

"Christie?" 99 asked. "Christine Taylor?"

"Yes, it's me. Mom told me you were coming so I said I would seat you in the backroom where everyone is waiting."

"Are you singing?" Max asked knowing that Christine Taylor was a professional singer as well as a music teacher.

"I may do a number or two. It depends on mom. She wants to socialize tonight with so many friends here. That always delays her singing."

"Well either you or her would be a treat…especially tonight," said Zach admiringly as he followed his family to the backroom.

The backroom of the supper club was a private room with an amazing amount of tables and chairs as well as theater seating. The stage at the front of the room was rather large to accommodate any amount of musicians and performers. Tonight was Saturday night which was usually a performance night for many of the club owners who doubled as performers; however, tonight was totally reserved for the 21st anniversary party of Maxwell and 99 Smart.

As the Smart family approached their table two familiar faces were already there. The former Chief or Thaddeus Clark and 99's mother, Phyllis, sat there and smiled as 99, Max, and their children followed.

"Good to see you, all," Chief said as he kissed 99's cheek and shook Max's hand, Zach's hand and then Avery's in succession. He kissed Maxine on the cheek and picked up Zoe and gave her a hug and kiss on her little cheek. Thaddeus or Grandpa Thaddeus as he was slowly being called by the Max and 99's children was very happy to be a part of this family. He had married 99's mother last year in the midst of the turmoil going on between Max's mission in East Germany and 99's medical problems. At one time the wedding was to be a double ceremony in that Max and 99 were to renew their wedding vows and 99's mother and The Chief were to be wed for the first time. However, events happened which prevented 99 and Max from renewing those vows which meant everything in the world to them.

Part II

"Max," 99 asked as they lay in their bed one night, the previous year, very tired after the grueling day they both had.

"Yes, 99, what is it?" Max said as he turned over and put his arm around his wife pulling her close. He started kissing her and nuzzling her neck and 99 giggled.

"Max, stop, I want to ask you something." 99 said gently pushing him back just far enough so she could focus on him in the dark.

"Oh, I'm sorry,, 99 I thought you wanted to…you know…" Max said pouting.

"Maybe a little later. I want to ask you something."

"Oh, ok , what is it?"

"Could we get married again?" 99 looked up into Max's eyes and the expression on his face was full of sarcasm and question.

"Why, didn't the first one take?" Max asked sarcastically not really understanding what his wife was asking him.

"Yes, love, but we are going to be celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary in November and I just thought it would be nice to commemorate it by rededicating ourselves to one another. This time we will have our children there. It's very romantic," 99 said and pulled Max down to her and started kissing him in his favorite spot. 99 knew he would resist her nothing when she did that.

"So when did you want to do this little remarrying thing?" Max asked breathless between kisses, nuzzles, and massages.

"I thought when my mother marries the Chief,..ex-Chief," 99 said as she caressed Max in all the right places.

"Whatever you want, darling, just let me know and I'll show up…"Max did not say another word after that and that was how it was settled.

November had still been seven months away and the Smarts continued to live day to day. Max grew as The Chief of Control and 99 helped in any way she could without letting Max realize she was helping him. Sometimes this meant she worked with Max in the office on a particular tough assignment. Their twin children were now agents and many times having both parents back at the base helped quite a bit. Max proved a bit more adept at being Chief than when he was a field agent due to the less physicality of the job. However, once in a while, on date night, he and 99 would go to the shooting range just to maintain their accuracies.

The plans for the double ceremony were in their infancy. 99 had told Maxi and Zoe and both were excited. Zoe did not absorb too much being so small, but Maxi understood and thought the ceremony to be very romantic. One late May morning, 99 awoke and she had cramps. She experienced very painful cramps (almost like labor the way they fainted and sharpened). It was not unusual to have cramps during your period, but 99 had just had a baby 2 ½ years ago. When this first happened she chalked it up to starting menopause; however, the pain was unbearable and her bleeding was extremely heavy with not only blood but tissue. Last year, she had bled heavily and it had continued for a little more than two weeks, but it had stopped and 99 had not had a period after that for six months. At 99's age, she thought she was finally beginning menopause. However, the symptoms had returned with a vengeance. Now she had bled for more than two weeks. Although she knew she was 48 years old and near menopause, she did not believe that it would continue for weeks like this.

Many times after taking large doses of ibuprofen she would eventually fall asleep and the pain subsided. During the rest of the day she sometimes felt ready to faint. Today, as she was preparing dinner, she dropped some dishes and they shattered all over the floor. She had to leave CONTROL before Max because it was her early day and she needed to pick up the baby from daycare. Due to budget cuts, CONTROL had to close its daycare; so 99 had to go across town to pick up their youngest.

"Here, darling, let me help you," Max said as he came through the kitchen doorway and witnessed 99's accident.

"No, love, I'm fine. Go get washed up and call the children," 99 said as she took the dishes that Max picked up. Hopefully he had not seen the cause of her dropping the dishes on the floor she thought as she watched him walk back out through the kitchen doorway. She could feel staining in her clothes and the pain in her back was doubling her over.

"Are you ok, 99?" Max inquired he asked halfway out the door.

"Yes, I'm fine," 99 said as she straightened up and as she did the cramps had returned with a vengeance especially in her back and upper thighs. "Go, please."

Max turned around slowly and knew something was instinctively wrong. She had tears in her eyes and she held her back. He knew she did not want him to worry, but worry he would until he knew for sure nothing was wrong with his beloved wife. He would let it go for now, but soon they would get to the bottom of this. He knew she also hid from him how much pain she had been when they rose that morning. When she returned to their bed he tried to hold her comfortingly, but she admonished him and said that he had better hurry or they both would be late. He had even remarked how it really did not matter since he was the Chief. Of course, 99 as smart as she was would not let either of them rest on that laurel. So he rose and began the day much how he was coming to end it.

It was not long before it all came to a head. On the day of what was to be her mother and Chief Thaddeus' engagement dinner, 99 suffered the worst cramps and bleeding she had had yet. Plus her skin was extremely pale and she had lost 20 pounds in two weeks. Always very thin but plumper in the right places, especially after having Zoe, her roundness had become gaunt and her cheeks look too white. She tried her best to keep it from Max that fateful morning, but they had shared the same bed for twenty years and her husband was always aware of the little things that could bother her as she came and left his side. Now as he went to follow her he spotted the blood on the sheet beside him. This had gone far enough.

"99, you are in pain, honey. There's blood on your side of the bed and unless you were shot in the middle of the night I would say that this bleeding thing has gone far enough. Shh…," he quieted her as she tried to protest that she was fine. "I'm calling Dr. Baker. He's your doctor, right?"

99 nodded.

"If he thinks I should take you to the emergency room, I'm doing it," Max commanded.

"What about tonight?"

"It can be postponed. Your mother and Chief will understand. Now stay here. I will see what the kids are up to and come back."

"Mommie?" Zoe came over gently and put her little hand on 99's arm. She looked up at her mother with a woeful look to her eyes so like Max's.

"Mommy is tired, Zoe, sweetie. Come with daddy. Let mama sleep," Max said as he picked up his little daughter kissing her cheek and then bending down and kissing 99 on the forehead. "Try to get some rest, honey. I got this."

"I love you, Max," 99 said weakly.

"I love you, too, 99" Max said kissing her on the forehead again. He then left carrying Zoe in his strong arms.

Chapter Six

What was wrong with 99 had not ended with one doctor's visit. 99 had to endure an internal exam plus a scraping of internal material by Dr. Baker for initial lab results. She also suffered an internal ultrasound as well as a mammogram. Two weeks after the initial lab results came in from the slide in the doctor's office he said there had been enough precancerous material to call for a D & C. Her mammogram had turned out normal, so at least her breasts were fine. In all these weeks, 99 had just stopped bleeding before the D & C had needed to be done.

It was now a week after the D&C, the second week in July, 99 had been out with Zach and Avery pricing a new air conditioner as the one in the kitchen had finally collapsed. 99 had suggested central air for their house, but Max, as usual was very economical and protested saying that it would be a waste of energy in that they all were not home most of the day. Suddenly the telephone rang as they came through the door.

" _Hello, Mrs. Smart? This is Dr. Baker,"_ said the voice over the phone. "I have the results of the D &C. You have cancer…but you are not going to die. I'm fixing you up with a terrific surgeon. This surgeon is the best. Let's put it this way. If a member of my family needed surgery like you need, I would recommend him highly. You need a hysterectomy and that should get rid of all the cancer. You have uterine cancer. The tumor is in your uterus."

Dr. Baker had spoken so quickly that all 99 heard was "cancer", "not die", and "hysterectomy." She mechanically wrote the surgeon's name on a piece of paper which Zach had supplied to her. He had heard his mother utter the word "cancer". 99 hung up the phone.

"Mom, you ok?," Zach had asked.

Staring into space and not quite believing what Dr. Baker had told her said, "Yes, apparently, I have cancer. The doctor said I wasn't going to die, though, I just need to have a hysterectomy."

"Well, that's the good part. How about I call dad and tell him to come home right away."

"No, Zach, just go get your sisters. I will call your father and tell him to come home." Zach began to walk away and Avery sat down next to his mom.

"Zach and Avery."

"Yes, mom," both boys answered together.

"Don't say anything to either one of your sisters. Zoe wouldn't understand and I think I should tell Maxine and your father together."

"Sure, mom." Zach said kissing his mom on the cheek before he left to get his sisters who were out and about on their daily activities. Zoe was at daycare and Maxine had a shadowing class at spy school.

Avery tried to reassure his mom and then went upstairs to deal with the news in his own way leaving 99 alone with the phone.

She picked up the receiver and dialed CONTROL.

"Maxwell Smart, Chief of Control, here," Max answered sounding preoccupied with a particularly hard problem.

"Max. It's 99. Are you extremely busy?" 99 asked.

"Not too badly, darling. What is it?" Max responded instinctively knowing it was serious by the tone of how 99 asked her question.

"Could you come home right away, please," 99 almost pleaded.

"Of course, if it's that important. I suppose you don't want to discuss it over the phone."

"No. Please come home. I need you," 99 asked again.

"No problem. Do you need me to pick up the girls?"

"No, Zach is doing that. They should be home at the same time you are."

"Ok, sweetheart. No problem. See you soon," Max said as he immediately hung up the phone and straightened his desk. "Larabee?"

"Yes, Chief,"

"I need to go home. Could you please forward any calls to my shoe?"

"Sure, Chief. Is everything ok?"

"I'm not sure. I'll let you know in the morning."

"Have a good night, Max,"

"Thanks, Larabee. You, too." Max said as he left through the sliding door.

Part II

When Max came through his front door, all four children were sitting on the couch even little Zoe had a place on the long calico covered couch. He gave 99 a long deep kiss on the mouth in front of the children and did not care what they thought. Even Zoe did not cry for her daddy to pick her up, but as Max sat down in his chair at the end of the couch, Zoe scooted off the couch and climbed onto Max's lap and into his arms where she settled.

99 stood in front of her family as if to give an address or a reprimand.

"Ok, I'm just going to say it."

Max looked around at the children and noticed how quiet they were. He knew this was serious. He held Zoe a little tighter.

"Dr. Baker called this afternoon after I got home with the boys. He had the results of the D&C tests. He told me I have uterine cancer."

"Cancer!" Max exclaimed almost upsetting Zoe as he rose and took his wife in his arms. The others rose and Maxine took Zoe from their father knowing that he needed to hold their mother.

"Please, Max, children. It's ok. Dr. Baker assured me that all I needed was a hysterectomy and that it should get rid of it. They caught it very early and I am young, so I'll recover."

Max kissed 99 on her forehead and addressed his brood, "Kids, give me some time alone with your mother, ok?"

"Sure, dad," said Maxine as she got up with her brothers and carrying Zoe left.

When they had left the living room, Max sat on the couch where the children had recently vacated. He placed 99's head on his shoulder, his arm around her stroking her upper arm every now and then.

"Now tell me everything. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine right now. I finally stopped bleeding the other day. There's not much to tell except that I have to make an appointment with the surgeon he recommended."

"Have you done that yet?"

"No, I'm still adjusting to the news."

"Does your mother know yet?"

"Yes, I called her after I called you. I figured she could relay the information to the Chief...ex Chief. I know because you're the Chief of Control now and not... I couldn't bear to repeat it yet again," 99 said attempting to be brave and not to start crying. She did not want to break down in front of Max.

"99, I know who I am. I know you couldn't repeat any of this again just yet. I understand," said Max. "

"Well, that's it for now. I guess I'd better get dinner started."

"Hold it, 99. You can't just tell me you're sick and then jump up and leave me saying "Oh I'd guess I'd better get dinner!" Max exclaimed. He wanted to know why it was his wife who was chosen to have this sickness. Why after the first few months of this year, this was how the year would play out. He had too many questions and no answers.

"Well, until I see the surgeon, there's not much else to talk about," 99 said as this time she was allowed to rise and go to the kitchen.

"There is, 99. However we will do it later tonight when the kids are asleep."

Part III

Max lie in their bed on his side while 99 was in the shower washing off the grime of the day. _Cancer_ Max thought as he stared at the closed door. _How could this happen to her? She had always been in shape and never had a female problem. It couldn't be from having little Zoe. I know mom had died from stomach cancer before I asked 99 to marry me. However, 99 said it wasn't bad. That the hysterectomy would be all she needed._

Max's eyes strayed to his wife as she came out of the bathroom in her blue silk nightgown and matching robe. She had not worn that for a very long time. She usually only wore it when she was in need of some attention from him. The shame of it was that Max could not remember the last time they made love. She had been in so much pain and bled so heavily that the thought of sex just could not be broached. Could it have been that long ago?

Before 99 had even asked when she crawled in next to Max, he immediately took her in his arms and kissed her deeply stroking her body all over making her understand that he knew what they needed at that moment.

"Max.."

"Shh…I want to make love to you," Max whispered.

99 said nothing and responded to Max's kiss in kind and took him in her arms and held him tight and took comfort in his solidity and strength has he held her.

Whatever Max wanted to discuss was forgotten as he and 99 made love as if it was their last night together.

Chapter Seven

99's surgery was scheduled for August 10. The following weekend was to have been the double ceremony; however, 99's mother and the Chief decided to postpone their wedding until 99 had made a full recovery. As to her and Max's rededication of their vows, it was postponed indefinitely. 99 was too worried that she would not live through the surgery and Max just worried the doctors' had been incorrect and that 99 was fighting a never ending battle with cancer. Surgery had been put off more than once. 99 had to undergo different examinations to be sure that she was strong enough for the surgery. She was to have had a colonoscopy before the hysterectomy, but 99's regular doctor thought that overdoing it, but gave her a referral anyway. However, the day she was supposed to have it (three days before her hysterectomy) the doctor was called away on an emergency and the procedure not rescheduled. Max and 99's patience had been tested with all the delays. Now that the day had come relief and fear were mixed.

Max did not want to think about losing his wife from cancer in the same way he lost his mother. His mom had died in great pain and he could not bear to think that if the doctors had been incorrect his wife would die the same way. 99 and he were both agents and the thought of losing one another had become a way of life. A way of life that neither ever took for granted. One never knew if the other would come back from an assignment alone. However, cancer was that proverbial monkey wrench thrown into the middle just to keep things interesting. Max hated this. He never let on how much he hated this. How helpless against this enemy he felt. KAOS he could deal with. He knew 99 could fight a tangible enemy, but this was her own body betraying her.

Regardless the day of the surgery was here. She had to report to the hospital at 6:00 a.m. The Chief and 99's mother had volunteered to drive her to the hospital so Max could hold her in the backseat until they had arrived at the hospital. 99 hardly slept one iota and neither did Max. They petted briefly but due to the prep, 99 and he were not allowed to make love. Not that 99 felt like it. The two days prep had left that part of her body rather sore. She now lay in the backseat in Max's strong arms with her head on his chest. It was a comfort to her feeling and hearing his constant heartbeat. Before she left, 99 had kissed each one of her children goodbye as they were still asleep when she left the house. With a whisper to Maxine about taking care of Zoe to which 99 received a sleepy "ok" and a "love you, mom".

Soon they arrived at the hospital and 99 was prepped for surgery. Max and both her mother and The Chief were allowed back with her while she waited to be taken to the operating room. Soon the inevitable happened and instead of being put on a guerney they threw her charts in her lap and whisked her away in a wheelchair. Max quickly gave her a quick kiss, whispered how much he loved her and with thumbs up said, "See you when you get out." 99 saw tears standing in Max's eyes and tried to smile and joke that she would see him in a few.

Then she was whisked away while Max stood there looking at her and wishing it were him and not her facing this operation and battle.

Part II

99's mother came up to where Max sat staring at his wedding band as he turned it with his thumb. She sat down and put her hand on his thigh comfortingly.

"You really do love my Victoria, don't you?"

"Victoria? Who's Victoria?" Max asked looking strangely at his mother-in-law.

"Your wife. She never told you her real name? You've been married for 20 years and she never told you her real name?"

Max shook his head. "What is her full name, mom?"

"Victoria Melissa Susan Haliburton."

"I like 99 better. I don't think I could call her anything else."

"Well, you really love her, don't you?"

"99? Of course, did you doubt it?"

"Well, sometimes, but not often. I know she has always loved you. She would come home on holidays and say how special her partner in the greeting card company was. I suppose she never told you her father was a spy as well, did she?"

"No, that I knew, Mom. She told me that because then she knew where she got her love of espionage from. She also wanted to let me know that you knew what we were all about."

"Don't worry, son. I know what you and my daughter are all about." She smiled as she squeezed Max's thigh one more time.

"Oh, what is that?"

"Love."

Max just smiled.

Part III

What's your husband's name?" Someone was yelling at 99 as she woke up from what seemed only a minute.

"Max," she said. Suddenly a nurse was wheeling her to recovery and telling her that she was fine and that the surgery was all done. Dr. Baker and Dr. Chin were suddenly there telling her they believe they got it all. 99 tried to raise her head but it felt like led and she was dizzy the minute she tried to focus on anything.

"Try to relax. You're doing fine."

"Can I see my husband or my parents?"

"In a bit, we're waiting for a room for you. Just wait, honey," said the recovery room attending nurse kindly.

So 99 tried to relax, but all she wanted to do was see her husband. After what seemed like an eternity 99 felt a hand slipping into hers. She felt it being kissed and opened her eyes to see the happy smile on her husband's face.

"Max," she could barely whisper. She was so glad to see him.

"Yes, 99. Your mother and the Chief are here, too."

"Hi honey. I called the kids to say you came through with flying colors," said 99's mother coming to the other side of the bed.

"Hi, 99. I am glad to see you're back," was about all the Chief could muster. Taught to be staunch in his feelings and not to feel it was suddenly hard to know that this was his family now.

99 burst into tears and held onto Max's hand tightly.

"What is it, sweetheart? Are you in pain?" Max asked softly.

"Nothing. I just want to cry. Kiss me."

"Of course," Max bent down and kissed 99 sweetly on her lips. "I love you more than anything else in my life. You are my life. You're going to be fine."

"Sure. I am…Max?" 99 asked looking up at his handsome face with the silver and black unruly curls coming out in the humid room.

"No more babies."

"We have all the children we were to have including our little Zoe. I love you. Now get some rest and I will see you when you get to your room."

99 reluctantly let go of Max's hand and went to sleep.

Part IV

99 went home late in the afternoon the next day with instructions that no sex for at least six weeks. She also had to go to the doctor's in a few days for them to check inside and outside. The sudden onslaught of menopause left 99 in an unstable condition. Her hormones were so out of whack that she was hot one moment and cold the next. She was happy one second and then ticked at the world quickly after. A couple of times her hormones were so bad that she said she felt so inept and wanted to end it all. At times like that, Max knew not to laugh at something he knew was out of character for her. He just bolstered her self-esteem and held her and told her how grateful he was that she was still there with him. Poor Max bore the brunt of 99's abuse and amazingly he did not lose his patience. He had not witnessed anything this badly with 99's hormones since she had been partially paralyzed and heavily pregnant with Avery.

However, Max accommodated her the best he knew how. He also admonished the children if they rubbed their mother the wrong way. He waited with anticipation every checkup. Every appointment was good, but they kept cutting away at scar tissue which annoyed her making her bleed for a few hours. At her six week appointment, she was given the ok to have sexual intercourse again. Once the intimate connection was allowed to flourish, Max and 99 realized their how much they had missed this part of their relationship. Also added to the fact that 99 need not worry about becoming pregnant was an added spice to their pleasure.

99 still sometimes felt debilitated and depressed, but as menopause processed through her body she had returned to her lovable, confident, contented self. After two months she could not wait until their 21st wedding anniversary. This year it would not be spoiled by a last mission or cancer. They would celebrate it fiercely and gratefully that they had attained such a milestone.


	3. Chapter 8 - Epilogue

**Author's Note: I just wanted to thank my lone reviewer who is loving this story. Thank you. I hope the ending is not too risqué to be here. I would like to say that I have to make a couple of disclaimers. I don't own any characters but I do own their evolution based on the character. Mainly I wanted to explain about Peter and Diana Taylor and in the earlier chapter about their daughter Christine. Diana and Peter were my favorite characters on General Hospital when I was a kid. I saw a different vision for their characters other than the direction that GH put them in, so I just wanted to let anyone know who may recognize them. By the way the Diana Taylor I envision was always played by Valerie Starrett-not Brooke Bundy in the late seventies. Thank you. Anyway, this is rest of Max and 99's anniversary. Enjoy!**

Chapter Eight

"I want to thank everyone who came here tonight to help celebrate a milestone wedding anniversary for two dear friends of mine," Diana Taylor said before she started her set.

After the applause, Diana said," I would like to invite the celebrating couple to the middle of the dance floor. She waited until Max and 99 were in the middle of the large square dance floor and then she stated.

"The first time I met Max and his wife they had not yet been married. Max had a knife wound and his partner worried for him. She had told me they were to be married in a few months. This was late 1969 and I was a student nurse just starting my medical rounds with the R.N.'s. I mentioned to her that if she needed someone to sing at her reception that I could do it and that my brother owned this club. We didn't sing at their wedding nor their reception. However, one night they came in here and "Happy Heart" became their song. So without further ado, I would like to sing it for you now while they dance the first dance for the rest of their lives together.

While Diana sang Max and 99 held each other close barely moving. Max whispered in her ear what he thought of the night and what they were going to do when they got home. 99 nuzzled at her husband and quietly shed happy tears onto his shoulder. As the second verse had begun, others had taken the floor and danced near to them to congratulate them on their anniversary. Larabee and his wife Donna (also known as Battling Biff Banister) had danced close, congratulated them and said they were going to adopt a baby girl from China. They had not been able to conceive, so 99 was so happy that they were going to adopt. She knew they would make good parents, but Max had had his doubts. To which 99 rejoined, "Who knew you would be such a good father?" Max had acted insulted and then 99 took his face in her hands and looking straight into his eyes, she said, "I did."

The night soon lengthened and people began to leave. It was about 11:00 p.m. and Diana and Peter Taylor, Mom and the Chief, and a few others were coming back to the Smarts' for a nightcap and a little informal celebration.

Max and 99 looked at each other across the room. Max was explaining to Peter what his last assignment had been like before he had become Chief. He eyed 99 across the room and gave her such a seductive look that her legs were jelly. 99 had been cleaning up and alternately tucking Zoe in her bed. She was now thanking Diana for her part in their celebration when suddenly Avery approached the fireplace and addressed the crowd.

"I'm not good at this sort of thing, but I have been recruited to give mom and dad their anniversary gift from us kids and Grandma and Grandpa Chief."

Max and 99 approached where their youngest son stood at the fireplace. He looked so grownup in his gray suit that 99 had to look twice to make sure she saw could find her little towheaded boy within the suddenly shy tall young man holding an envelope at the fireplace. Avery opened his envelope and began to read the presentation that Maxi had written there.

 _"Mom and Dad,_

 _In light of all the events from last year which prevented you from celebrating your_

 _20_ _th_ _anniversary in the manner you wanted. We are giving you the gift of a honeymoon_

 _night and day at the Washington Plaza Hotel. Your reservation (guaranteed late arrival)_

 _is enclosed in this envelope and presented to you November 15, 1990 with love from_

 _Zachary, Maxine, Avery, and Zoe Smart, and of course, Mom and Dad._

 _P.S. Feel free to stay all day tomorrow. We got this….Love Maxi."_

Avery stepped off the fireplace and presented the envelope to his mother and father. 99 gave him a kiss on the cheek and wiped a tear away from her eye. Max gave him son a manly hug and wiped a tear away from his own eye.

"Thank you all for tonight and everything," Max said. "Now without further ado, I think I will take my beautiful wife and take advantage of this fantastic present."

Max swiftly took 99's hand and turned towards the staircase to pack when he tripped on something. 99 pointed downwards and found two overnight bags had been packed already. 99's mother and The Chief walked to where they stood at the bottom of the stairs.

"We took the liberty of packing for what you may need for tonight," said 99's mother.

"I guess we can just go, right?" 99 asked.

"I suppose we can," Max answered. He picked up the suitcases which Zach summarily removed from his father's hands and volunteered to take to the car for them.

Everyone spilled out of the Smarts' home to see them off on their second honeymoon. Max handed 99 in the car and was sure she was belted in and then he walked to the driver's side and with a wave to everyone got into the car, started the engine, and pulled out of the driveway. Max gave the horn a squeeze to acknowledge one more goodbye and thank you for their special night.

Epilogue - Anniversary Night

It was very late and the moonlight shone through a small opening in the closed drapes. The room was dark but not empty as a man and woman sat naked in the large king size plush bed. Their bodies were intertwined in the most intimate way. They had barely made it to the room when the lights and their clothes came off. 99's beautiful dark blue dress and Max's dark blue suit and other pieces of clothing made a trail from the living room part of the suite to the bedroom where they wasted no time making love in a hurry.

After twenty years of marriage it was amazing how she and Max could arouse, caress, and still complete one another. Earlier in the evening as they eyed one another across the living room of their house in the after celebration of their 21 years of marriage with some friends and their children the look between them had been scintillating and titillating. Once caught, their vision included no one else only eyes for one another. It had not always been like that. In fact, there had been many years where Max did not want to catch 99's eye looking at him that way or he not wanting to look at her with a passionate hunger that he knew no one else could satisfy. Those days had been gone for good when Max asked 99 to marry him. It was a day where longing for both of them had ended.

"Oh…Max…," 99 cried out as Max now lie down behind his wife and thrust in from behind. The penetration felt so much deeper this way that Max had to take in a breath. He laid his head against his wife's hair and breathed in her scent and the scent their bodies created as they moved together. "Come again baby, come again," Max coaxed slowly in a deep sensuous voice. Inhibited most of the time and always afraid of being laughed at first, their marriage bed had always been one place that 99 let Max know that nothing he ever said was stupid or absurd. She let him know from that first time that she loved when he would let himself go and say whatever he wanted in the midst of lovemaking. She loved everything about Max and although he could be forgetful and clumsy outside of their bedroom there was nothing clumsy or forgetful inside their bedroom. Ever since Max first bedded her two days after being married (he was not allowed to lie down because of that stupid map that stupid scientist tricked him into drinking), 99 never forgot a touch or a word which could set her off in the throes of ecstasy. She maintained a constant loving remembrance of the loving, sexy, or incredibly complimentary things he would say and how Max made her feel. The loving comments were mementos that she remembered were the real Max she had married. Those moments served as warm mementos when her husband had been away on dangerous missions or those times when he would forget her, accidentally, of course.

Finally, 99 wanted her husband to know how much she still found him sexy and desirable. During the light of day, 99 was always what a good wife should be. Besides being Max's partner at CONTROL, she cleaned his house, cooked his dinners, and given birth to four beautiful children. In return Max was a good, loving husband and a wonderful father. He was her husband and she loved him more than life itself. She adored him and always had since she laid eyes on him one day when he was a substitute teacher in her spy school class. When she contrived to be on the "Mr. Big" mission, she could barely contain her focus on the mission as she sneaked sideway glances. However, on those occasions when 99 managed to have a moment alone with her husband, 99, Max's lover, appeared and seduced him. As he responded to her playfulness, she would love him with reckless abandon. Sometimes Max had to admonish her when he brought her to an orgasm because she could really be loud when she wanted to be. She knew Max actually loved it. It was a compliment to him after all. However, at other times when he was tender in his loving ministrations as now, her happiness erupted in tears. When the tear finally fell Max caught it with his hand and kissed his fingers where it had fallen. How she adored him.

Max held on for a few more minutes but it felt like an eternity. It was surreal. He felt as if he were someone else not the same Maxwell Smart Chief of Control happily married with four great kids. He felt like he was a nameless man who was being loved by a beautiful dark haired stranger not his wife of 21 years. He decided he did not want the moment to end.

"Sweetheart, let go.." Max said softly as he gently disentangled himself from her grasp.

"What.."

"Shh.." Max lie down on top of her enfolding her in his arms as he did so. He covered her inquiring mouth with his in a slow wet kiss letting her know she did nothing wrong. He felt her long legs open and wrap around his hips as 99 let him in again near her sacred ground where he never got tired of lingering. 99 was still so very beautiful and he loved her so very much. Max knew that she still felt the same way about him. She showed him in everything she did. Max looked deep into those blue eyes that held him since the day he met her and caressed her body with light smooth strokes. He kissed those beautiful baby blues and continued with light kisses on her cheeks, her lips, and he let himself nuzzle, and kiss his favorite part where her smooth swan neck met her beautiful shoulder. Oh, he wanted to be one with her again he thought as he slipped inside her. The rhythm began again and this time grew fiercer and even more rhythmic as each cried in coming orgasm. The bedboard hit the wall again and again banging in complete rhythm with their movements. They both smiled thinking how at home the same thing happened and that their two eldest children were discreet enough not to mention it in the cold light of day.

Crying out his wife's real name at the moment of climax, Max collapsed on his side of the bed gasping for air. Looking over at his wife where she, too, was gasping for air but she was radiant with her dark hair tossed all around and perspiration along with tears glistening on her cheeks. . They were both sweating with their completion. Max took 99 into his arms and she wrapped an arm around Max's chest and said at his questioning look, "I'm sorry about the tears, love. You have made me so happy." 99 stated breathily kissing him on his right nipple and trailing kisses up to the back of his ear.

"Well, just to let you know, darling, that I have never been more happy than tonight except the day we were married. When we became partners, friends, and then lovers…and parents, my happiness has grown every year. That was incredible, 99. I didn't think we were up to making love like that anymore. You were absolutely incredible."

"You weren't so bad yourself, Love," 99 said between kisses and caresses. She wanted him badly again, but she could see he was a little tired.

"Max?" 99 asked looking up at him through from where her head lay on his chest. His chest was still heaving with trying to catch his breath and his heart beat wildly in his chest elating 99's pleasure. However, she thought back only a moment ago and wanted to ask him something vitally important.

"Yes, what is it, darling?"

"When you finished, you cried out, "Victoria" and not "99" like you usually do. How did you finally discover my real name after all these years?"

"Well, darling, I am the Chief of Control and have endless resources opened to me." Max knew he might be in trouble so he puffed himself up as he used to do in those days when they were just working partners.

"My mother told you, didn't she?" 99 countered.

"Ah…yes, but it was a long time ago and I didn't think about it until right then."

"That's ok. I'm glad you know, but don't tell anyone else. Ever since I was given my number I always wanted to be called "99".

"It will never pass beyond my lips. I won't even tell the children."

"Good. I think the children are a bit intrigued by their mother having only a number for a name. Well, I'm sure my mother would tell them if they asked…if they asked"

"Don't worry, 99, I am sure they aren't even curious."

There the subject ended as they lay together in the giant king size bed the hotel afforded them. Max dozed a little gaining strength and stamina for the next go-round because this was not going to be the end of their time here together. He was so happy beyond anything he had felt before.

99 lay contentedly playing with the sparse gray and black hairs on Max's chest. She had always been glad he was not overly hairy on his chest. It seemed he had been blessed with hairiness at other strategic parts of his body which pleased her. Suddenly 99 rose and got out of the mussed bed.

"99, where are you going?" Max asked as 99 suddenly took her warmth from his body and pranced completely naked across the room. Max had to say he was enjoying the view, but he was getting cold and he wanted her back in their bed and in his arms quickly.

"You'll see," she sang back.

99 had gone into the living room part of the suite and found the strawberries, champagne, and whipped cream that room service had brought up - compliments of their children. _How could they have known,_ wondered 99. Max's favorite fruit was strawberries and a long time ago when they were first married, 99 had treated Max to sipping champagne, eating strawberries, and dipping the strawberries in whipped cream squirted on strategic places on her body. When it came time for Max to reciprocate, he was more than willing for 99 to do the same to him.

Max watched his wife as she came back into the room carrying the can of whipped cream, bottle of champagne, and the small bowl of ripe strawberries.

"Oh the old eat- the- strawberries- dip- them- in- whipped- cream- and- drink- champagne- on-strategic- parts –of- your- body -trick!" Max joked.

"Something like that, Love. Do you want to go first?"

The old eat-the-strawberries-dip-them-in -whipped-cream-and-drink -champagne-on-strategic-parts-of-your-body-trick led to more intimacy and full out enjoyment of each other that 99 and Max had not had the freedom to share living in a house with four precocious children.

After finally coming up for air, Max noticed the time on the clock on the nightstand. It was near 3:00 AM.

"I'm too old for marathon lovemaking, sweetheart," Max said panting and kissing 99.

"I remember a couple of times recently you were ready more than once. I was afraid I couldn't keep up. What stamina for a man your age!"

"Well, my darling, for you I could never be _down_ or unwilling…" They both tittered at the word "down".

In his exuberance, Max had accidentally spilled the bottle of champagne which lay next to the bed. He had gotten out of bed and disentangled himself reluctantly from the warmth of his wife to retrieve the bottle and take a sip. Marathon lovemaking sessions left him pretty thirsty. Climbing back into the bed and looking into his wife's eyes, Max kissed 99 again fully on the mouth slipping to the side, amazed that he was still hard with wanting of her. Max lie on his side resting his head in his hand on a bent elbow. The other was around 99's waist as she lay closely next to him.

Coming up farther to reach him, 99 nestled her head where his shoulder and neck joined and began a litany of deep soul kisses on his neck. He automatically enclosed her in his arms. Max could feel delicious tingles up and down his body. 99 gained momentum as she moved swiftly vertically and horizontally as she came to lie on top of her husband. 99 remained on top loving the feeling of him inside her. Slowing, she bent down farther lying on top of Max. She took each one of his hands and clasped each in one of hers. At the end of this session, she laid her head on his chest gasping for air and hearing the rapid pulse of Max's heart. Kneading each hand with hers, she rose again and rocked a little taking his semen within her and removed herself to her side of the bed.

Max closed his eyes for a minute just savoring what had happened to him. He looked over at his wife whose eyes were closed as she savored the afterglow in her own way. 99 went into Max's arms easily and lay her head on his chest. She kissed his chest which still had remnants of the whipped cream interspersed with perspiration.

"Whew…." Max said aloud. What he wanted to say as he kissed 99 on top of her dark head as she lay on his chest was. _Wow, what a wife I have! She is beautiful, gorgeous, and a top shelf lover…and the mother of my children. I will never, ever find another like her. Thank you, Lord, for making her for me._

"You, ok?" 99 asked raising her head from Max's chest.

"Am I ok? I am more than ok, you wonderful woman. I do not want this night to ever end."

"Thank you, Max" 99 said feeling so proud and loved.

"You're welcome. Wait what are you thanking me for?"

"Oh, Max, you know."

"You, ok?" Max asked. He hoped she felt the same way as he.

"I feel wonderfully loved, Love. In all respects… Max?"

"Yes, sweetheart."

"Did you ever think after 20 years as lovers that it would remain that wonderful?"

"Did you think that was wonderful?" Max asked.

"Yes, I did," 99 said getting worried that Max had not meant all the sounds he had made during their lovemaking.

"Oh, yes, the best ever," 99 said as she rose a little looking Max in the eye.

"Does this answer the question?" Max said as he turned 99 on her back and kissed her long, deeply, and wantingly.

"Yes.." 99 responded welcoming her husband into her one more time.

"Darling, " Max asked coming up for air.

"Yes, Love."

"I don't know about you, but I'm a little sticky from the strawberry and whipped cream trick. How about a shower?"

"Together?"

"I wouldn't want it any other way."

"One more time, though, since you are already where I want you."

"You got it, Mata Hari," joked Max as he again began his thrusting rhythm.

After another explosive orgasm, both rose from the mussed bed and again began the loving ritual under a wide shower of warm water pouring over them both as they held each other and kissed.

Max said as he looked deep into 99's blue eyes remembering again the horrific year they had survived together. Through his injurious trip and her cancer he finally remembered what he had wanted to say at their botched second wedding, "I love you with all my heart, my soul, and every fiber of my being, sweetheart. You have been my rock, my companion, my lover, and not to mention the mother of my children. I swear again that I will always be there for you and protect you. I promised that on our first wedding night and I say it again on our second wedding night. I meant it then and I mean it now. I love you, 99."

99 smiled and remembering what she had wanted to tell him on their second wedding which was interrupted,

I, Victoria Haliburton Smart, 99, take you Maxwell James Smart, for my husband a second time as you are my lover, my companion, my best friend and father of my children. I vow to be the wife, lover, woman that you will need for the next 20 years of our life and beyond. I have loved you and always will. I love you, Max."

With the water sluicing all over their bodies they cuddled together against the shower wall, kissed, and embraced cleansing their bodies again to begin again where they did 21 years ago.


End file.
